5 Joe Sita

Within three years, Joe Sita has led Nakheel Hotels to accumulate an impressive global hotel property portfolio valued at more than US $4 billion, inluding the QE2, acquired for $100 million.

Sita has put his 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry to good use, taking on leading brands such as W Hotel Union Square, New York; Mandarin Oriental in New York City; W Hotel Washington; the Fountainebleau, Miami Beach; Corinthia Metropole, London; and One&Only Resorts in Los Cabos, Cape Town, and Zanzibar.

In the Middle East, the company has significant equity stakes in Kerzner International Holdings Ltd; operator of the Atlantis and One&Only brands, as well as in International Hotel Investments — owner and operator of the Corinthia brand.

Sita also holds significant stakes in the franchise for easyHotels in the Middle East, Levant and North Africa.